


Tea Time

by jellofiend



Series: Brand New World [1]
Category: Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Food
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 19:03:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5217218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellofiend/pseuds/jellofiend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What is this?"<br/>"It's an orange, of course."</p><p>Many things are new to Terra in his world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tea Time

**Author's Note:**

> Based off a word prompt [here](http://100-prompts.livejournal.com/692.html), Table A 022. Blood. Why write dark shit when I can just write shmoopy fluffy shit instead? :)
> 
> A little background: Terra's crystal, for whatever reason, doesn't work at the end of Dissidia and she can't go home. Cloud splits the power of _his_ crystal so she can come with him to his world.

Terra eyes the plate Cloud sets down in front of her.

It’s nothing like she’s ever seen before. The outside is orange, like it should be, but the pulp inside is a startling red color. It reminds her of fresh blood.

Brow furrowed, Terra leans over and tentatively pokes at the neatly quartered not-oranges. “What is this?”

Cloud stops in the middle of preparing the tea and gives her an odd look. “It’s an orange, of course.”

“What’s wrong with the flesh?”

“Oh.” Cloud says simply, glancing at the plate. “You haven’t seen these before?”

“No?”

“It’s a blood orange.”

Terra blinks. So she isn’t alone in finding that similarity. The damned thing is named after it.

She  makes a face. “It’s so unappetizing. I’m sorry to say it, but it is.”

“I know, it’s a little unappealing. Even scary.” Cloud says, squeezing a hint of lemon into the teacups before passing hers along. “But it’s actually quite delicious once you try it.”

“Ehhh.” Terra’s expression is skeptical, her lips pressing into a thin line. “I don’t know.”

With a small, amused smile, Cloud reaches over and picks up a piece. He bites into the flesh, sucking up the juices that spring out. He makes a tiny sound of approval. “Seriously, just give it a try.”

Terra watches him eat for a second, noting his enjoyment, then eyes the fruit again. “I guess.”

She gingerly chooses a piece, moving it up to her face for a slight examination. It doesn’t look any less strange up close; if anything, it’s even _more_ macabre. Bringing it to her mouth, she bites down.

The burst of flavor is instantaneous, tangy and sweet and juicy. She makes a surprised noise, drawing Cloud’s attention back to her.

“Good, right?”

“Vfery gfood.” She manages around the mouthful, making Cloud laugh. Scraping the last of the flesh clean off, Terra pops the peel out and gives him a smile. “You were right. It’s delicious!”

“I’m glad you see it now. Or, taste it now. Whichever.” He grins, reaching out to help himself to another piece.

The two of them finish off the plate in seconds, the tea relegated to cooling on the table until they remember and hurriedly gulp it down. Outside, the sun begins to set, the blue of the sky fading as red creeps in.

Cloud stares idly out the window, tapping a spoon against the edge of his cup. “We should do tea time more often.”

“Absolutely.” Terra agrees, resting her chin on her hand, kicking her legs under the table. Pausing, she glances down to examine the texture of the wood, the little nicks and scratches in its surface. After a while, she says. “Thank you.”

“Huh?” Cloud turns his head. “For the tea? It’s no big deal.”

“No.” Terra says, sitting up straight. “I mean, yes, for that too. But…I meant…” She takes a breath. “I mean, I wanted to thank you for everything.”

Cloud blinks at her. “What?”

“For letting me come with you.” Terra explains. “For letting me stay with you. For being my friend in all my hard times. For caring.”

Expression softening, he smiles. “You don’t have to thank me for any of that.”

“But I want to.” She moves in closer, eyes wide and earnest. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to have any sort of life…when I couldn’t go back to my world, everything seemed to be lost. I can’t even imagine what sort of fate I could’ve had.” Terra sniffs, looking away as tears begin to gather. “You saved me.”

Cloud doesn’t say anything for a while, just stares at her as she wipes her eyes. Then, “I couldn’t have just left you there, right? And the saving wasn’t one-sided, was it?”

“I haven’t done nearly as much for you as you’ve done for me.”

“That’s not true.” He says softly. “Do you know that I’d lost the ability to smile? Do you know how unhappy I was? You…you helped me fix all of that.”

“You deserve to be happy.” Terra says, reaching over to take his hand. “You’re a good person.”

Cloud curls his fingers tight around hers. “Because of you, I can believe that.”

“You’re giving me too much credit.”

“That’s not true at all.” Cloud shakes his head vehemently. “If anything, I never give you _enough_ credit.”

Terra stares at him intently, and Cloud feels his heart warm in response. He reaches up to tuck a stray curl of hair out of her face, and she ducks her head.

“But you give me enough happiness.” She says quietly. “If I’ve ever helped you, then that’s more than enough repayment.”

Cloud ducks his head too, so they’re face to face. “I guess we’ll just consider that we give each other enough of what the other needs?” He smiles wryly. “I mean, I don’t wanna be stuck in a back and forth sort of situation all evening. It’s too nice out to stay indoors with silly stuff like that.”

With a soft laugh, Terra moves away. “You want to go out?”

Cloud glances out the window at the darkening sky. “I think it’ll be a starry night. We could walk, get some street food for dinner, I dunno…maybe…” He looks back over at Terra with a cheeky grin. “…stargaze?”

Terra stifles a giggle, and nods. “That sounds nice.”

“OK then.” Cloud says, springing out of his seat and beginning to clean up the mess on the table. “Just let me get this sorted out real quick.”

“I’ll help.” Terra says, grabbing her own cup and saucer out of Cloud’s reach as she rises. “It’ll be faster that way.”

Cloud affectionately nudges her with his shoulder, and she gently nudges back, the two of them sharing a small grin as they work.


End file.
